By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune News Editor

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

THE Bahamas has kept its Tier 1 ranking in the United States’ 2025 Trafficking in Persons Report, placing it among a small group of countries recognised for meeting the minimum standards for eliminating human trafficking.

The report, released yesterday, credited the government with making “serious and sustained efforts” during the reporting period, noting increases in prosecutions, higher spending on victim support, and the introduction of a new screening tool to better identify people at risk.

Still, the report underscored gaps. For the second straight year, authorities did not secure a single conviction for trafficking offences. Investigations also dropped, from 25 in 2023 to 13 in 2024, even as prosecutors brought 20 new cases to court. Allegations of official corruption and complicity, particularly involving immigration officers, remain a concern. The report said such claims were not investigated despite the risk that they hinder law enforcement efforts.

One of the sharpest sections of the report focused on The Bahamas’ long-standing agreement with Cuba to supply doctors and teachers. It said the government “maintained a bilateral labour agreement with the Cuban regime for the provision of Cuban workers to The Bahamas, despite serious concerns the Cuban regime forced them to work,” adding that the government “reportedly paid up to 92 percent of these workers’ salaries to the Cuban regime, directly contributing to their exploitation.” It noted there were about 40 Cuban medical professionals working in The Bahamas, far higher than the six Health Minister Dr Michael Darville said were employed.

The criticism followed months of friction between Washington and Nassau over the programme. The US had warned that participation in Cuba’s state-run labour-export system could trigger visa sanctions for Bahamian officials and their families. In April, Cuba Archive, a US-based human rights group, released leaked contracts suggesting The Bahamas was paying up to $12,000 a month per medical professional, while the workers themselves received stipends as low as $990 to $1,200. The rest — between 84 and 92 percent — was retained by Cuba’s state agency, Comercializadora de Servicios Médicos Cubanos. One contract, purportedly signed in Havana in 2023 by Dr Darville on behalf of the Ministry of Health, set monthly fees of $12,000 for each medical advisor and $5,000 for technical specialists, while barring workers from negotiating directly with Bahamian authorities. Those revelations revived scrutiny of whether Cuban professionals in The Bahamas were being subjected to forced labour conditions.

In June, Dr Darville confirmed Cuban healthcare workers would be hired directly by his ministry rather than through intermediaries, with existing contracts set to be cancelled. Those unwilling to accept the new terms, he said, would be expected to return to Cuba. Education officials also announced plans to rehire more than 100 Cuban teachers under a revised framework placing contracts directly with the Bahamian government to help ease classroom shortages across several subjects.

US Chargé d’Affaires Kimberly Furnish said this month that Washington had “worked very closely with the Bahamian government to ensure that if there are Cuban nationals working here, they’re being paid directly and treated humanely,” describing the Davis administration’s overhaul as “a success.” Her comments marked the first public endorsement of reforms adopted after months of tension, with the government cancelling old deals and pledging to pay Cuban workers directly through Bahamian agencies.

Even as the administration pressed through reforms, the US report stressed that the previous arrangement placed The Bahamas in direct violation of international labour standards. It pointed to evidence that Cuban workers had little control over their wages, faced restrictions on movement and association, and in some cases were pressured into unnecessary medical procedures.

Beyond the Cuba issue, the report highlighted other shortcomings. Authorities identified only two trafficking victims during the reporting period — a Jamaican woman and a Venezuelan woman — down from five in 2023. Despite the drop, the government more than doubled spending on victim care, allocating over $78,000. Victims continued to receive food, shelter, counselling, and legal aid through the Department of Social Services and partner NGOs, while three people, including two Bahamians, were awarded restitution.

The report noted that the country still does not have a dedicated shelter for trafficking victims. Instead, survivors are often placed in facilities shared with domestic violence victims or in child protection centres. NGOs have warned that shelter space remains limited and funding inadequate to meet the need.

On prevention, the report said the government maintained its Anti-Trafficking Committee and hosted outreach programmes, including events tied to the World Day Against Trafficking in Persons. It also launched a national health survey of teenagers that included questions aimed at measuring the prevalence of trafficking. Still, prevention funding fell sharply, dropping to less than a third of what was spent the year before, and the government has yet to adopt a new national action plan after the last one expired in 2023.

The trafficking profile section said traffickers continue to exploit both Bahamian and foreign victims. Migrant workers from Latin America and the Caribbean are lured with false job offers and then forced into sex work or low-wage labour. Women migrants were described as particularly vulnerable, while undocumented migrants, LGBTQ individuals, stateless people, and those displaced by Hurricane Dorian were also identified as groups at risk.